is a Japanese-Italian anime television series. The series was a coproduction between Japan's Nippon TV and Italy's government-owned broadcaster, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) and animated by Tezuka Productions. Although the series was in production during a period of several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was not aired in Japan until April 1, 1997, on the satellite channel Wowow, while it premiered in Italy on November 30, 1992 on Rai 1. The series has also been aired on TV in the United States (on the Catholic-oriented Eternal Word Television Network), Spain, Germany, and Australia (on Australian Christian Channel).
In the Beginning: Stories from the Bible marked the fourth time Bible stories formed the basis of a Japanese-animated television series, following the two Superbook series and The Flying House, which were made for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network by Tatsunoko Production in the early 1980s.
In the Beginning: Stories from the Bible features episodes devoted to most of the major stories of the Bible, including the stories of the Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, Abraham and Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon, with the final episode featuring the Nativity of Jesus. As with the second Superbook series, some stories were stretched out over several episodes. Unlike Superbook and The Flying House, however, no contemporary characters from modern times were inserted into the stories, save for the series mascots and viewpoint characters, Roco the fox and Mimi the vixen.
Tezuka's manga work frequently included religious themes, and because of his long-running manga Buddha, he is sometimes perceived as having been a devout Buddhist, but in fact, Tezuka was largely agnostic.Schodt, Frederik L. The Astro Boy Essays. Stone Bridge Press, 2007.
The theme music (for the English version), an ending theme called "Rainbow Blue", is written and performed by Reimy, and is the only ending theme that has English lyrics both in the Japanese version, the English version, and in the Spanish version. In the Italian version, an ending theme called "He Comes, He Saves You", is written by Paolo Zavallone and performed by Cristina Zavallone, and is the only ending theme that has English lyrics in the Italian version.
Background In the Beginning: Stories from the Bible grew out of a request that Osamu Tezuka received from the Vatican by way of RAI in 1984, requesting that Tezuka produce an animated version of the Bible. Tezuka spent two years working on a pilot series for the project based on the story of Noah's Ark and other stories from the Bible, both writing the scenario and doing the photography for the series and working in the production of the animation itself, but Tezuka died on February 9, 1989 before the series was finished. The remainder of the production for the pilot series and the subsequent 26-episode television series was supervised by director Osamu Dezaki.
Episodes NumberEnglish titleJapanese titleItalian titleSpanish titleBook of the Bible 1 The Creation (Adam & Eve, Part 1) 天地創造 I signori della Terra La Creación (Adán y Eva, Parte 1) Genesis 2 Cain and Abel (Adam & Eve, Part 2) カインとアベル I figli di Adamo Caín y Abel (Adán y Eva, Parte 2) Genesis 3 The Story of Noah (Noah's Ark) ノアの箱舟 L' avventura di Noè La Historia de Noé (El Arca de Noé) Genesis 4 The Tower of Babel バベルの塔 Una torre fino al cielo La Torre de Babel Genesis 5 Abraham, the Forefather 父アブラハム Abramo il patriarca El Padre Abrahám Genesis 6 Sodom and Gomorrah ソドムとゴモラ Sodoma e Gomorra Sodoma y Gomorra Genesis 7 Isaac and Ishmael イサクとイシュマエル Ismaele Isaac e Ishmael Genesis 8 Isacc's destiny (Abraham's Sacrifice) アブラハム、イサクを捧げる Il destino di Isacco El destino de Isaac (La Prueba de Abrahám, translated as El sacrificio de Abrahám) Genesis 9 Jacob's children (Joseph in Bondage) ヨセフの夢占い Venduto dai fratelli José en Esclavitud (Vendido por sus hermandos) Genesis 10 Joseph's triumph ヤコブ一族の再会 Il trionfo di Giuseppe El Trinfo de José Genesis 11 Moses, The Egyptian Mosè l'egiziano Moisés el Eqipcio Exodus 12 The Fire in the Desert (The Burning Bush) 砂漠の火 Il fuoco nel deserto El Fuego en el Fesierto (La Zarza en Llamas) Exodus 13 Moses and the Pharaoh (Moses & Pharaoh) モーセとファラ Mosè e il faraone Moisés y Faraon (Moisés y el Faraon) Exodus 14 The Exodus エジプト脱出 L'Esodo El Exodo Exodus 15 Laws carved in stone (The Ten Commandments) 十戒 La legge scolpita sulla pietra Leyes grabadas en piedra (Los Diez Madamientos)Exodus 16 Israel's Treachery (The Golden Calf) イスラエルの裏切り Il vitello d'oro La traición de Israel (El Becerro de Oro)Exodus 17 New Alliance (Journey to the Promised Land) 約束の地 La Terra Promessa Nueva Alianza (La tierra prometida) Deuteronomy 18 Jericho (The Fall of Jericho) エリコ Gerico Jericó (La Caida de Jericó)Joshua 19 One king for Israel 初めての王サウル Un re per Israele Un rey para Israel Judges and Samuel 20 King Saul (David and Goliath) サウルの敗北 La sconfitta di Saul David y Goliat (La derrota de Saul) Samuel 21 King David ダビデ王 Il seme di Davide El rey David Samuel 22 King Solomon (The Wisdom of Solomon) ソロモンの王国 Il regno di Salomone La Sabiduría de Salomón (El rey Salomón) Kings 23 The Exile of Israel バビロン捕囚 L'esilio di Israele El destierro de Israel Kings and Ezekiel 24 Release from Bondage 奴隷からの解放 Gerusalemme, Gerusalemme Liberación de la Esclavitud (Libertad en Babilonia)Ezra 25 Prophets in the desert 砂漠の預言者たち Profeti del deserto Profetas en el desiertoLuke and Matthew 26 The birth of Jesus イエスの誕生 Una stella brilla ad Oriente El nacimento de Jesús Luke and Matthew
Staff Animation created by: Osamu Tezuka Produced by: RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana, NTV-Nippon Television Network Corp. Executive production: Tezuka Productions Executive producers: Shinichi Okada (Chukyo TV Broadcasting), Masahiro Kurata (Nippon Television Network), Takayuki Matsutani (Tezuka Productions), Luciano Scaffa (Radiotelevisione Italiana) Scenario: Tezuka Productions Producers: Masami Takagishi, Hime Miura, Hidehiko Takei, Masao Nakamura Music composed by: Katsuhisa Hattori Character design: Osamu Tezuka, Shinji Seya Animation directors: Masaki Yoshimura, Akio Sugino, Shinji Seya, Junji Kobayashi, Hideaki Shimada Art directors: Kazuo Okada, Masami Saito Directed by: Osamu Dezaki Biblical advisors: Emilio Gandolfo, Pietro Bovati S.J. Supervised and coordinated by: Marco Pagot, Luca Lamonaca Scenario: Luciano Scaffa, Guerrino Gentilni, Luca Lamonaca Assistant directors: Takashi Ui, Yusaku Saotome, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Shinichi Matsumi Assistant producer: Sumio Udagawa Production managers: Satoshi Kuwabara, Mitsuaki Ōishi, Takeshi Yoshimoto Photography: Studio Wood, Takahashi Production, Tezuka Productions, T. Nishimura, Mushi Production, Madhouse, Studio Cosmos Editors: Masahiro Matsumura, Harutoshi Ogata Color direction: Satomi Murai Finishing animation: Beijing Xie Le Art Co., Ltd. Animation check: Tomoko Kawaguchi, Kaoru Kanō Animation production in cooperation with: J.C. Staff, Mushi Production, Madhouse, Shaft, Tama Production, Asatsu-DK (D.K. 1) Music selection: Katsuhisa Yoshino, Yutaka Goda Sound effects: Shizuo Kurahashi Mixer: Nobuyoshi Kamibayashi (Aoi Studio) Music in cooperation with: Nippon Television Music Corporation Coordination: Imago Inc., Tokyo Production managers: Masami Takagishi, Koji Shibata, Hime Miura, Hidehiko Takei, Masao Nakamura, Kuniaki Nagayama, Enrica Benni
Japanese broadcast production Recording production: Audio Planning U Co., Ltd., APU Studio Sound director: Katsuyoshi Kobayashi Supervisor: Yoko Imamichi (Saint Paulo Monastic Order for Women) Producers: Yoshihiro Iwasa, Minoru Kubota Production coordination: Satoshi Kuwabara
Voice cast Laura Lenghi, Alessio Cigliano – Roco, Mimi Mayumi Tanaka – Roco Usmid Patix – Roco Motoko Kumai – Mimi, younger brother (Seth) Fabrizio Temperini - Adam Kinryū Arimoto – Adam Laura Boccanera - Eve, Lot's wife Yorie Terauchi – Eve Rori Manfredi – Cain Katsuhiro Kitagawa – Cain Alessio Cigliano – Abel Mitsuru Miyamoto – Abel Isa Di Marzio – Noah Yuzuru Fujimoto – Noah Sho Saito – Noah's wife Tatsuyuki Jinnai - Shem Yūko Sasaki – Rebecca, Shem's Wife Minoru Inaba – Ham Tsutomu Kashiwakura – Japheth Shigezō Sasaoka – Egyptian Elder Tarō Arakawa – A Naoki Makishima – B Mitsuaki Hoshino – C Hiroshi Hashimoto – Servant Yoshiko Akiyama – Woman Daisuke Sakaguchi – Asaph Yoshiaki Hirao – Leader Banjō Ginga – Patriarch Yukio Hirota – Supervisor Takashi Taguchi – Priest Yukihiro Yoshida – Shopkeeper Eiji Maruyama – Old Man Kazunobu Chiba – Hard Labor Seizō Katō – Abraham Junko Midori – Sarah Masaaki Tsukada – Elder Mika Doi – Hagar Ryuji Nakagi – Lot Tamie Kubota – Lot's wife Katsumi Toriumi – Ishmael Marco Vivio – Issac Tetsuya Iwanaga – Isaac Satoru Yanase – Angel of God (B) Yonehiko Kitagawa – Jacob Marco Vivio – Joseph Hiroshi Yanaka – Joseph Ikue Otani – Young Benjamin Shun Tanikawa – Benjamin Manabu Ino – Young Moses Tesshō Genda – Moses Tetsuaki Kuroda – Old Moses Takeshi Watabe – Pharaoh Osamu Saka – Aaron Mizuka Arima – Miriam Jouji Nakata – Joshua Tomomichi Nishimura – King of Jericho Yurika Hino – Rahab Masato Yamanouchi – Samuel Hiro Yūki – Young David Unshō Ishizuka – David, Abimelech & Cyrus Yuu Shimaka – Goliath Takaya Hashi – Saul Akio Otsuka – Young Ezekiel Tamio Ōki – Old Ezekiel Ryūzaburō Ōtomo – Nebuchadnezzar Takeshi Aono – Belshazzar Shin Aomori – Solomon Motomu Kiyokawa – Prophet Hiroaki Hirata – Saint Joseph Yuri Amano – Mary Show Hayami – Messenger of God Michele Kalamera, Sandro Iovino – God Hidekatsu Shibata – God Emilio Cappuccio, Ilaria Borrell, Roberto Romei, Sandro Iovino – Narration Akira Kume – Narration
References
External links TEZUKA OSAMU OFFICIAL